Georgetown or Maryland???

UPDATE: In case there's any confusion, the Washington Post is covering both media days with staff writers. I'm a blogger, with a slightly different mandate. But we'll definitely have people at both events. Also, I suppose it's too late for this, but I'd appreciate it if we'd lay off the Len Bias jokes. Thanks.

In the spirit of asking questions and inviting comments: I'd like you to tell me whether my time today would be better spent going to media day for the Maryland men's basketball team, or going to media day for the Georgetown men's basketball team. (They're at the same time, so I can't do both.) Tell me which team has more interesting players, or more compelling story-lines, or a better possibility of success, or more computer-savvy fans who would want to read both a story in tomorrow's paper and some nuggets in today's blog, etc. You can comment below, or you can e-mail me your thoughts, and I'm looking not only for direction on which event to attend, but for what questions I should ask that other media persons would not be asking.

Another blogging tip is to "reward comments," and so I promise that I will actually make my decision based on the number of comments/e-mails I receive, and that I will actually use your suggested questions, provided they're not vulgar.

(Mason and GW people; I don't know of any media day events, and I'm sure the G-towners and Marylanders would strongly object, but I think you could make a decent case that, if there were media day events, you all should be right in the middle of this discussion. GW has three players from last year's team in NBA camps--three! That's compelling, right? And Mason is coming off the bloody Final Four. I have no idea what I'd do if all four schools were having their events today.

And seriously, is there a better market for college basketball this year than D.C.? No way. Maybe the Triangle will have higher overall quality, but they get all ACC....we get to see four of the best leagues on the East Coast in one city.)

Georgetown all the way. You can't beat the story of John Thompson III. Son of a legendary basketball coach, he now has his father's old job coaching. Really a great guy who has inspired alums and students alike to come back to GU basketball. Go Hoyas!

Ok, they're not technically at the same time. If my sources (beat writers prisbell and powell) can be trusted, Maryland does lunch at 1:30-ish and Gary Williams at 2:30, and Gtown starts at 3:30. So maybe I could catch snippets of both, but it would be tough.

Your priorities are sorely lacking, Dan. Mason should be EVERY local journalist's first stop this season. ESPN is making the trip from Bristol! Why wouldn't you come to Fairfax when it's right in your back yard AND we're coming off the most improbable season in college basketball history!?!?

But I guess since Mason isn't in the cards for you, I think the answer to your question is blatantly obvious .... Georgetown dude ... for a few reasons:

A) Maryland sucks - plain and simple. So long as that blow hard Gary is coaching them, they'll continue to underachieve because he's more concerned with making "poor me" comments than getting his team ready to play opponents. They're a disgrace and their players are incoherent thugs.

B) Georgetown has a SICK recruiting class and they're actually postseason contenders (for the reason why, please revisit A). JT3 actually has a program worth talking about and spending money to go see. Why, as a nationally known journalist, would you waste precious moments of your life promoting an ACC team that's ALWAYS been too afraid to play Mason at the Patriot Center and will undoubtedly finish middle of the pack ... at best?

C) Since you're a journalist/blogger, you want to go to a school who'll have fans that'll read your stuff, right? Well, at least you know G-town fans can actually read and conduct themselves appropriately. Why would you go to Maryland where the students only know how to speak, read and write four-letter words and tip over cars and light fires? Don't you value life?

Gary Williams won't play the Hoyas unless it is on their floor and he gets all the perks and advantages. Gary's 'vaunted' program can't stand another hit like losing locally to the Hoyas, so he is setting up an impossible scenario for a game and then will say the Hoyas won't play him.
Gary can spend his time hitting on college co-eds rather then game planning for the Hoyas.

Seriously.. go to Maryland. First of all, Georgetown students are obnoxious. Has anyone ever met a Georgetown grad they liked? Because I certainly haven't. Second of all, after a few down years, Maryland fans are about to slit their wrists if they don't find something positive, so I'm sure they'll be all over the stories tomorrow. Third, because of the down years, Maryland has the much more intriguing story... how can the team that has fallen from grace get back to the glory days of 2002? Plus you know Gary will have better food than JTIII.. Gary is a member at Congressional... he does it up right.

I would cover whichever team has a chance of winning a national championship. Georgetown clearly does. Maryland will be very lucky to make the NCAAs. Further, which is a more interesting story -- a great program returned to its glory days (Georgetown) or a struggling program trying to recover from the apathy that set in after a national championship (Maryland)?

Why would anyone associated with The Post start covering the Terps now? Who cares what anyone in your sports department thinks of our beloved Terrapins? We can get our info from so many other sources. So don't waste your time.

As for the Patriots and Hoyas - When was the last time the Terps lost to either of those teams?

"[i]s there be a better market for college basketball market than D.C." -- Hmmmm, I thought Maryland was in.....Maryland. In any event, one team (GU) is on the rise, one team is on the decline (MD). Plus, by going crosstown, you could avoid the Beltway and, after the meeting, go have a beer and wings at the best college bar in the world: The Tombs. This call is a no brainer.

Also, ask JTIII how, as a Gonzaga HS alum, he got a fella from St. Johns to sign on the dotted line (see yesterday's Post). Given the age old rivalry these two schools maintain, thats a coup! If you are feeling cheeky, maybe even ask how did he succeed at recruiting a top player from Dematha (this year's class) when his dad couldn't recruit a soul from one of the nation's best HS programs over two decades.

Go to Georgetown. Our Men's Basketball team doesn't deserve the attention. If you're gonna visit any media day for a Maryland sport. Come to the women's. They truly work hard and have a good attitude. The Men suck.

As a Georgetown grad I would say that you should cover Maryland. Georgetown just isn't that media friendly while Gary Williams is desperate to get everyone in the media to love him as much as Fienstein so you'll be treated well. Plus we need someone to ask Gary about the progress he is making scheduling home and home series with Missouri Valley Conference schools.

The Terp's are hasbeens. Don't waste your time, but if you do go ask Gary williams how much longer he plans on ducking Georgetown. I'm sure Jim Larranaga will let them borrow the Patriot Center so there's no whining.

If you want to cover the better team, go see the Hoyas. However, if you'd like to cover the better story, visit the Terps. Find a nice, tactful way of asking Gary whether he has any concerns over his own job security after two consecutive NCAA misses. Ask him whether he thinks the departure of numerous assistants over the past few years has hurt his recruiting. Finally, ask him if in his opinion, Maryland should be able to realistically compete with the Duke's, UNC's, UCONN's and Arizona's for the top high school players in the country. (If so, why hasn't Maryland been getting their fair share; if not, why does he feel this is?)
Hey, I didn't say these would be easy questions. Good luck.

If you're going to look at it from a dollars and cents stand point, and since your paper is in business selling papers and ad space, it would make more business sense to cover the largest and most successful major college basketball program in the area over the past 13 years: Maryland.

Please by all means go to the Georgetown media day. Or better yet, check and make sure you don't miss the UVA media day. The Post seems to like both those preppy private schools. UMd alum and fans don't rely on the Post for coverage of our teams anyway.

You should go to the Hoyas. They are the program on the rise, were in the Sweet 16 last year, and were the only team to give the Nat'l Champs a game. They have two POY candidates in the 7'2 Experience and Jeff Green and two ROY candidates in Vernon "The Big Ticket" Macklin and Dejuan Summers (Someone who, if Maryland was a program worth covering, would probably be a Terp, seeing as how he's from Bmore).

Oh, and they have the two best players in the DC metro coming in next year.

That and they aren't ducking UMCP. JT3 wanted to play in the BB$T his first year at Gtown, but was told he owed the Terps a game at Comcast first. I wonder if he called Gary now, would Gary still be willing to play that game at Comcast or would he be afraid to?

No question, TERPS all the way. Just ask Junior Feinstein which team is not afraid to play other teams in the area. Of course, you might get some great info on how the Paranoia's will play St. Leo's and the Little Sister's of the Poor.

No question -- Georgetown. There's no story with Maryland. But G'town is poised for great things this year, AND you can ask why they won;t play a cross-town game.

Granted, I think the whole issue is bullsh*t -- mostly whiny GW and MD grads who know that the best days of their programs are behind them looking for scraps of glory -- but it is still a valid question.

Georgetown's got momentum and the better story. A team returning to glory, still fairly young, great players, almost beating the team that went on to win the national championship. It's a much better story than the nothing that is going on at UMD right now.

"Ability to graduate players" pretty much says it all. The school has always been good about cooperating with the basketball program and "graduating" its players, no matter how they may actually perform academically.

Based on the typical fan turnout at Verizon Center, every Georgetown fan in the area has already contributed (some of them twice). If the goal is to appease this handful of readers, might as well go to Georgetown.

It really is unfortunate that Gtown & MD dont have an annual game that would alternate between their respective home venues. You think Duke & UNC is a rivalry, Gtown & MD would be of equal stature if not more enticing given all the local talent. Get it Done; everyone wants the game and put the pettiness aside. I wouldn't care if Gtown was the team to offer the olive branch and make the visit to MD; and then expose them in a rout.

I say go to Georgetown and ask JT III under exactly what circumstances and/or conditions and he would have his team particpate in a DC-based tourney that would include Gtown, UMD, GW, Mason, AU and Howard. If you think it's true (as I do), tell him there is broad support for such an event among all basketball fans in the area. I've spoken with many players who would also support this proposed event.

I'd like to hear Gary's response to the same inquiry, but I wouldn't believe anything he says. So go to G'town and take JT III's temp on this one.

Maryland is the area's big dog and should be covered as such. Schools like Georgetown and George Mason are nice stories once in a blue moon and have a couple hundred interested fans, but we are the area's premier program. Even though we're in a down period we will still draw much more interest. It's pretty simple.

Bog - your mandate is obviously clear whichever place you go: ask what it will take to get a GU-MD throwdown at the Verizon Center. I bleed Hoya Blue, but I think you should go to MD's media day and ask Coach Sweats the following:

How does it feel to have completely lost the recruiting war in the metro area?

Maryland, only because it's stinking! Why not experience Gary's spin on his team's failure to make it to the NCAA tournament, the egg they laid in their first NIT game, and the departure of prominent seniors without graduating. Also gotta love the student body's open criticism of their famed b-ball program. Crap might just hit the fan there this year, so not visting Maryland will be missing a golden opportunity. After all, misery sells.

By all means if you want a good crowd then you'll go with Maryland. If you want to write about an amazing couple of recruiting classes then GTown. Fact is that Maryland has better facities, a better fan base. I'm actually a fan of both teams (if you can believe that) but UMD is my #1.

Let's see, UMD beat G'Town on their home floor in 1993 and then in the NCAA's in 2001. Isn't it time, G'Town came to UMD for a game??? I guess not since St. Leo's and Florida A&M are already on the non-conference schedule. Also ask G'Town when the last time they went to the Final 4 or won a national championship was??

I would say Georgetown. They have a team returning from the Sweet 16 added to a top 10 recruiting class, not to mention pulling the best two area players for 2008. I grew up a MD fan first but become a Gtown fan when my brother went there, and then I ended up going there as well. So I'm not big into this whole area rivalry seeing as I'm somewhat tied to both teams. But Maryland's a program that's clearly on the decline. The glory days are over, they've lost out in recruiting battles throughout the area over the last few years (blame Gilchrist). Maryland is going to struggle in the ACC and hope to finish in the middle of the pack. Georgetown is going to be battling it out for the Big East title. Go with the better team and the one you'll cover longer into March.

Go to either, UVA is going to be the best "local" team this year anyway. But regardless of where you go, you need to see which team will invite Ovechkin to one of their practices. He's had batting practice with the Nats, he's got a hole in one in golf, now I'd like to see what he can do with a basketball.

WHY WOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER THE TWERPS ... they'll be ACC bottom dwellers eating Duke and UNC's scraps ... the coach is a joke and the womens team is better then the men's .. G'town is a top 10 team nationally not locally .. Why would we be scared of another easy win on our record by adding those kids from across the way to our sched. when they'll just bring our RPI down ... Do THE RIGHT THING ..... GEORGETOWN ALL THE WAY - SEE YOU THERE!!!

Wow Hoyablood--remain calm. But it depends what you're looking for at these media days. Though I am an avid Terps fan, the program stinks these days. But they'll make their way back. These things always go in cycles. Unless you're the stinking Yankees. And even then. In the meantime, why not go to Gtown's media day since it appears it's their turn in the limelight?

FWIW, JTIII was apparently willing to play the Terps in the BB&T last year, but Sweaty Gary blocked it, claiming the right to a home game first. (Funny claim, given that the game in '93 was in Landover, much closer to UMD than G'town, and the teams split the gate for that game).

Any George Mason fan should just shut up because there were plenty of times I could remember watching a game at the Patriot Center last season where there were like 25 people in the stands. I will admit, GTOWN is the best squad this year and Jeff Green is my favorite non-Terp player to watch. But keep talking trash about the Terps and you people will be sorry.

Terps1411, just having a little fun, dont get your knickers in a knot. Glad you made it out to the Pat Center, but we did average a respectable 4.5k last year. Get Gary and Co. to come out to Fairfax, and we'll sell out.

Yow. (And I don't mean Debbie.) This is tough. Compelling arguments and ALL CAPS from both sides. Maybe I'll get Prisbell or Powell to feed me live content from whichever event I don't attend.

In other news, you'll note that both fan bases feel slighted by The Post. I don't think this is good--we'd actually like you to consume our product, believe it or not--but in our defense, we have many smart people (plus colleges editor Matt Rennie) trying to get the stories that are most newsworthy and of greatest interest to our readers into the paper. Everyone usually winds up unhappy, with the exception of UVA and Va. Tech fans, whom I never hear from.

I will say that Maryland is like the Skins; you can post something about a sprained pinky for the Skins' fourth-string long snapper and it would get tons of views. That's why a no-talent hack like jason lacanfora is having so much success with his skins blog. (kidding, kidding)

I love how all these Mason fans are posting on here and claiming to be a "power" now. It truly is hilarious. You had one magical run, good job!! But lets face it, year in and year out you guys simply won't have the caliber of talent to compete at that level again. Period. Gtown has done a great job of securing top recruits...however, do not overlook Gary. He's still pulling in top players and he has a reputation of taking the not so highly touted and turning them into superstars at the college level. Terps all the way.

Georgetown is a decent program, with the great tradition of the mid 80-s early 90's. But lets get real here, there fan base sucks. Maryland is the big ticket here for both football and bball at the college level. We might be having a couple down years in both sports, but trust me with Josh Portis next year, and the return of a true point guard this year, Maryland will be back.

Wow, I love it when some guy tries to get all tough on the comments section of a blog. Maybe someone here should learn how to act like a remotely intelligent person before learning how to be a college basketball fan, but at College Park, those two things are mutually exclusive.

Tim: No one said Mason was a better program than MD or GU. Take away Patrick's 4 years from G-town, and what do you have? GMU only lost to MD by 4 in the tournament in '01. If Mason is such a pushover, why won't Gary play us? Just keep drinking that koolaid, that's what you BCs'ers are good at.

You don't hear from us UVA or Tech fans because we are too busy reading the Richmond, Charlottesville, or Roanoke papers to try and get coverage. That and I'm reading "College Football Coaching for Dummies" so I can criticize Al Groh and I can claim I know everything about coaching.

Terps1411, I won't waste my time. Your day is over, your program sucks. I'd rather watch players who can play the game and utter a coherent sentence...that is when they aren't on the pipe.

As far as the fanbase goes, keep something in mind Twerps fans...you all built Comcast as a purposefully small arena, which gives you a great home court advantage but also makes it look like your fan base is bigger than it really is. The Hoyas are trying to fill Verizon Center which has a much bigger capacity, ergo your miscomprehension of a fan base.

I realize this is an intellectual argument so most UMD grads will need for me to explain it at least three or four times.

Come on Terps, I thought you could at least read, I said I love it when someone acts like a tough guy on message boards, you are cracking me up.
What I hate is when someone acts like a complete lunatic like Hoyablood, now that is a scary guy.

"As far as the fanbase goes, keep something in mind Twerps fans...you all built Comcast as a purposefully small arena, which gives you a great home court advantage but also makes it look like your fan base is bigger than it really is."

Yeah, ~18,000 is definitely a "purposefully small arena." Nice one. Next time you consider lecturing anyone about intelligence, try getting your facts straight first so as not to look excessively foolish. Nice try though.

Go to the Maryland press event and talk loudly, and constantly, on your cell phone to someone at the Georgetown press event, to get all the updates. If someone tells you to knock it off, light a couch on fire, turn a car over, ransack a local Starbucks, and take a dump right in the middle of campus. That way, they'll see you belong, and no one will hassle you again.

Go to Maryland for media day and come to McDonough for Midnight Madness on Friday. Leave the soundbites and call-outs to the University of Maryland at College Park Terrapins and watch the Hoyas play some basketball.

Will, you plainly don't understand basketball or didn't bother to watch last year's NCAA as Hibbert was dominant in every single game, and was the only player who was able to decently match up against Noah. Try learning the game before you talk cr*p.

hey itaihoya, Gary is just taking a break from getting great local talent. so what JTII got the best local talent for next year, embarassing Gary. Gary will get reall good players another year or something (hopefully if JTIII leaves for the NBA or something)

Find a way to get both coaches to sign a no-new-taxes type pledge that they'll play each other.

I think GU would gladly sign a 2-year or 4-year home-and-home contract with Maryland, Comcast first, with the long-term financial benefits split evenly (either 50-50 each year, or both teams keep 100% of an even number of home games).

If you go to GU, ask JTIII if he'd favor that plan; you'll likely get a yes answer.

If you go to Maryland, here's a more specific question: ask Gary if he'd be willing to ditch Feinstein-fest if it meant GU would play a home-and-home, Comcast first.

Dan - go to Maryland. Their fan base is huge and a big part of the Post's readership. GU took the '90's off and their recent success is just some nostalgia. Since Maryland and GW play each other and GU is afraid to lose to the Colonials here in DC, give Maryland the coverage. Go G-Dub, Hail to the Buff & Blue!

Look at what you have to loose. Everybody knows about the Hoya ascent. You cant add much material to that. Now the terps.... there are so interesting. I'd want to read more about that! Are the freshmen any good? Is gary promising the moon again? Is he officially the "other Williams" now:-)

If you like a classless program, go to Maryland. Just wear couch-flame-retardant clothing and be careful to dodge the bullets on the way there. If you survive long enough to ask some questions, be sure to inquire how Nik Caner-Medley's doing. He was great!

If you want to go to a real school that actually matters, though, go to Georgetown and talk about the Top-10 pre-season rankings, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Patrick Ewing, Jr., and a fan base drawn from a much smaller (but, let's be honest, much smarter and more national) group of alums than UMCP's that will still come by the thousands to home games.

Buff & Blue - playing GW is like playing the JV team - the upside from winning 9 times out of 10 is not worth the downside of losing that one time. If your team played in a decent conference you would understand, given you don't I realize that "they won't play us because they are afraid" card is the best you've got.

Go to Georgetown, it is a national university and story. UMD is at best a local one. Most telling is a site (flicksu.com) that lists movies that reference colleges an universities. Georgetown is mentioned all the time, the best UMD has is that their campus showed up in St. Elmos Fire a movie about georgetown.

If Mason is not doing a media day go to G'town. G'town is a legitimate top 10 team, the twerps are in a state of decline.

Twerp fans are delusional. UMD hoops had it's best years when the Tar Heels had their worst. UMD football had a couple of good years when the ACC was down. I'd hardly call that the class of the conference. Forget the rioters in College Park unless you're gonna cover their women's team.

The wahoos and chokies are not local. Get that crap out of the paper. I don't give a rat's ass if you live in metro DC and went there, go online and read a paper in that market.

I have absolutely no dog in this fight, as my loyalties are with neither the Bulldogs nor the Terps. But I am cracking up at all the GU folks screaming about the Big East being a better conference than the ACC.

The lady doth protest too much, me thinks ... the ACC was and is still the best conference in college basketball, unfortunately. But good for GU to think they can single-handedly change that reality! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I try, I really try to like Georgetown basketball, and then come out the fans...we're smarter than you, we're richer and better looking, we wear prada to class....
Excuse me while I ralph. Hoya fans, just pretend for once you have a little class, ok?

I love how G'town fans act like their players are true student-athletes. Just b/c their athletes get pushed through and get degrees in God knows what doesn't mean the degrees have the same validity as a regular alum's degree. I'm from Boston and Pat Ewing couldn't read and they got him in. What a joke... Go to UMD. At least UMD has its own stadium... and real fans.

It's too bad you are being made to choose between the four main programs in the area. Is the Post that cheap?

Mason is the feel good story from last year. Dunno if Laranaga can keep it going, but he has the heart.

GW, seems to be a player, unfortunately the Atlantic10 isn't sexy enough I suppose. They are definitely the better program in DC recently.

Georgetown, signed a sick recruiting class. While Hoyas are bragging, they need to win the Big East and go deep into the NCAAs before they brag that they are back. Also, playing to a half empty Verizon center leads to a sucky environment (modified Princeton and all).

Maryland. Yes, we have fallen off a bit. I suspect Gary will bring us back to some level of acceptable performance. You have to recruit the players for your system and not just the most hype. As the most recent local national champion, it deserves some respect.

Now to various comments. Academics, McCray was an embarassment yes, but the only player to do so in recent memory. Maybe we should resort to untimed test taking (see Patrick Ewing senior) to help here, or bogus 3 year Sociology degrees?

Maryland isn't afraid to play Georgetown, Georgetown owes us one. We played at their court (Capital Center) and they renegged on the return visit. It's called keeping your word. Also, it was Georgetown who rejected the BB&T thus drawing Feinstein's ire.

All the local coaches have done a great job of building programs in such a transient and fickle area. I hope all can do well.

We all know who's Media Day the Post really wants to cover, Duke. But alas gas is too expensive these days.

RalphDalton, you gotta see how funny that is to people looking at the Big East and the ACC from the outside. The Big East isn't better than the ACC, but it really, really wants to be, bless its heart.

The Big East claiming to be better than the ACC as a b-ball conference is like the ACC claiming to be better than the SEC as a football conference. Cute and aspirational, in a little-girl-dressing-up-in-mommy's-clothes sort of way, but reality? Not so much.

I do think GU's going to have a great, great year, though - good for JTIII! And I hope Williams the First can lift Md out of its recent slump. GM fans have a lot to be excited about, although I doubt they will capture the city's imagination the way they did last year. (It's hard to do so when GU is hot.) Looks to be a good year for basketball in the DC region, regardless of which conference you call home!

The answer is obviously Maryland. As for the person who said the Terps only want to play the Hoyas at home, I seem to recall playing GU at the Cap Center (which was their HOME COURT) and winning the game, after which Georgetown decided to stop playing Maryland.

Also, reading the posting about St. Elmo's Fire, there is a reason that the film's makers had to come to a real University, where they can play basketball at their own on-campus arena.

Finally, everyone knows that the ACC is the premier conference in the country and that there is a reason why the Big East is called the Big Least and the Big Weak Conference in basketball circles.

Yes MoCoTerp, Georgetown does owe you one, but on the same terms as the previous game, which was a 50/50 gate, which Gary Williams won't agree to, so the Terps hands aren't exactly clean there. And my daughter received untimed tests while a regualr student at Princeton because she has a diagnosed learning disability, just like Patrick Ewing Sr. Does that mean Princeton was just trying to push her through to push up its graduation rates, or actually trying to make sure that that it's students actually learned?

Kate - Before the expansion it was aguable who was the better BBall conference. After the expansion there is no argument. The Big East is clearly a better basketball conference then the ACC and probably the best basketball conference ever. I don't think you would find anyone remotely knowledgable of college hoops who would dispute that.

Kate,
Are you lucid? The Big Beast is sooooo much better than the ACC. Look at top 25 rankings, the series results from last year, NCAA tourney teams and the depth they made it.
Seriously, go burn a couch and drink your ACC Kool-Aid, and post again when your hangover wears off.

"And my daughter received untimed tests while a regualr student at Princeton because she has a diagnosed learning disability, just like Patrick Ewing Sr. Does that mean Princeton was just trying to push her through to push up its graduation rates, or actually trying to make sure that that it's students actually learned?"

Why can't G'town and UMD agree to a straight up home and home series and forget that game? It was long time ago, and both schools received an equal financial reward.

Gary ducks real OOC competition. Look at his OOC slate this year. All cupcakes, all at home except for the B,B&T and at Illinois as part of the ACC-Big 10 shootout. I don't give him credit for either game.

Kate,
I'm not sure where you get the idea that the ACC was the best conference in the country last year. What was it about its performance in any way that leads you to believe this? The fact that 4/12 teams made it into the NCAA tournament? The fact that none of those teams played particularly well in the tournament? To me, it's not really an issue up for much debate as the ACC was pretty easily the 4th best conference in the country last year after the SEC (which showed its strength in the tournament), the Big East and even the Big Ten.

Gtown, without a doubt. They are Final 8/Final 4 material. Maryland is NIT material. The argument that you should cover MD because they are more popular is ridiculous -- half the population lives in VA and the Terps don't represent them. Georgetown has many fans in the area, and this could be a season to remember.

No, let them say whatever they want about Bias. I mean, they definitely have the moral and intellectual high ground here with some of the class acts that have gone through Georgetown. Patrick Ewing looks like a Rhodes Scholar next to Victor Page. Allen Iverson is certainly the model other student athletes should look up to. And let's not forget about Charles "DUI" Smith, a true student athlete and winner in life. Just ask the Boston U community. Unlike Bias, his actions actually affected others...

Come on, Kate. You might be able to say the ACC is as good as the Big East, but better? Think again. They sold their hoops soul for football (and still can't compete with the SEC...or even, it seems, the Big East this year). I would direct your attention to the percentage of conference schools making the Dance last year.

As for the BB&T, who cares? It doesn't do GU any good to play, and it drives the Twerps mad. Apparently, it's true that you have to play the best to be the best, and the poor Twerps just can't seem to play the best. How frustrating.

Finally, to lie about having played an away game against GU in 1993, when both the receipts were split and it was Thanksgiving break so most GU students had returned to their homes all over the world (as opposed to UMCP fans who had returned to their homes, um, all over Maryland)? Pathetic!

Georgetown OWES Maryland a home date, that is the issue. For those of you who remember, Georgetown hosted Maryland about 12 years ago, Maryland won by the way in a great OT game. Now, Georgetown should come to MD and play, that is the issue, Gary is not ducking anyone. Also, I would challenge anyone to find a team in the last 5-10 years who has played a tougher OOC schedule than the Terps; they consistently play in big early season tourneys. On the other hand, it seems as if Georgetown has been known, and is just now getting away from, playing as many cupcakes as possible in the early part of the season.

Twerps fans are right -- the Capital Center, 20 miles from Georgetown and smack in the MIDDLE OF MARYLAND...

But Williams won;t play fair now -- won;t split the gate, won;t agree to a home and home format. So why should we risk injuries, to say nothing of being attacked by idiot fans after we kick the living sh*t out of the Twerps?

MARYLAND???? Huh ... I didn't go to MD why should you .... Go to G'town ... besides , my boy Jeff is all the reason you need to hear .... He'll be in the league with me soon ... and the Hoyas will be NC either this yr or next .. mark my words ... RG - out!

Who said anything about soccer? I'm just laughing at your pal Hoya Saxa claiming victory in a so-called blog war. Best guess is that he's off playing Dungeons and Dragons online with some other Internet geeks.

all the umcp keep trashing jt3 and the hoyas...guess there just jealous since gtown is on an uprise and umcp is on a degrading slope to one of the worst in the acc in a few years. gtown=top10 in the nation..umcp=are they even ranked?

The Hoyas are a national story and will be ranked in the preseason top 10. They have legitimate national championship aspirations. Since John Thompson III arrived at the Hilltop, GU has dominated recruting locally in DC, Maryland and Virginia. Since winning the national championship in 2002, Maryland has failed miserably at recruiting and competing. Go to Georgetown!

As a Georgetown Grad, I am somewhat torn who to root for. I have heard a lot of buzz about the MD program the last few days. My driver, my admin, my cleaning lady, and 3 of the 4 line workers at Chipotle (all of whom are proud Maryland Grads), cannot stop talking about this year's terps season. I ask myself, "How can so many people be wrong?" I've tried to pose this question to some of my class mates, but I can only get a hold of their assistants (most of whom are MD grads as well) so I don't feel as though I have received balanced feedback. Can anyone help me with my dilemma?

Jimmie, we're sorry to be so late to the party. We'll all been tied up reading the preseason polls and about Chris Wright's commitment to Georgetown. While it is presumptuous of us Georgetown fans to be so excited about the future, it's better than living in the past.

How's 2002 treating you anyway? Worn out your single of "Lady Marmalade" yet?

In all seriousness, I'd love someone (you) to impartially get to the bottom of the UMD-Gtown feud. Seems Big John and Gary had a feud over gate receipts and home and away, JTIII said he will play "anyone except Princeton" just the other day, some people say they tried to play in the BBT but Gary nixed the idea, others say Gtown turned down the BBT outright...do us ALL a favor and ask the hard questions and get to the bottom of this. All hoop fans want this game.

All the Georgetown fans I know are only fans of G-town because they hate on Maryland. I mean where have they been the past 15 years??? One season they are better than Maryland and all of a sudden Hoya paranoya is back. Pathetic. Maryland is a better program and will always be a better program.

As a MD fan, I think you should attend our media day. With all the recruits and success GU has had lately, they certainly don't need any extra attention. They're letting wins and losses do the talking for them, but we could really use a positive spin on our results! Thanks in advance.

Yes, Georgetown did host Maryland TWELVE YEARS AGO. JTIII was working at a Sports Marketing Firm trying to get Shaq a shoe deal. It is totally ridiculous for Coach Thompson to OWE Maryland a game when he's been coaching at Georgetown for just over 2 years.

You should go to Georgetown. Of course I am a bit biased having gone to school there, but the objective facts don't lie. Georgetown is in the Top 10 for the first time in perhaps a decade. Not only are we competitive this year, but our program is really rising after claiming the two best recruits in the D.C. Area for next year. We have two Wooden Award candidates, a bunch of rgeat role players and a coach who is getting better every year.

The return to prominence, Thompson-Ewing II and the local recruiting coup are stories that lots of area fans will want to read. Georgetown is the local college basketball story this year(much like Mason was last spring and GW was last fall).

Maryland basketball on the other hand, is on the decline. That's a fact. There's no need to insult their students, players and or coaches.

Finally, Georgetown should do whatever Gary Williams wants to get a series against Maryland, Mason and GW. It doesn't matter who owes whom. Georgetown and DC area fans want to see it, so let's get it done.

Go Hoyas!!!

And I agree ... we could be raising a National Championship banner in the next few years. Get ready for that!

You know what I love about all of this? Twerps whining about being owed a game, how their fans are so much better, there are so many more of them, etc.

You know what's missing? Any talk of performance, results...in other words SCOREBOARD.

Let's face it, the Hoyas are a far superior team. They are on the way up while Twerps on their way down. It's as simple as that.

And what's a better story? A marginal team trying to hang on to shreds of past glory? Or an emerging powerhouse in the city of Washington. (The Post should cover only Washington teams. Let the Balt. Sun cover the Twerps.)

Dan thanks for stopping over at terptown. I dont know why so many of my fellow terrapins are complaining about the WP's coverage of Maryland because we get the most pub out of any area school in both football and bball. I guess they just want to see an overwhelming amount of Maryland coverage compared to that of Gtown, UVA, VaTech but it just cant be that way. I live in Chicago, and UofI gets the most coverage but all the Big 10 schools and Depaul get alot of coverage from the Tribune and Sun Times. Either way Im glad that the WP as well as the times and sun gives us the most coverage since we do have the largest fan base in the area and most success.

Mason. George Mason?. Are you serious, you guys averaged what 4000 fans before the nice run last year?. Maryland soccer > GMU basketball. end of story.

Now, on to the real stuff - GT has had a decent run after a long while and the Terps have had a bad run after a while, but considering that this is a business decision, it is a no-brainer... terps all the way.

HoyaTMF was a reasonable poster. Just about the only one I've seen from either side, though Jimmie Walker made some funny comments.

GU is a better team right now, and JTIII is doing a great job of recruiting. We Terps are jealous, and that's a fact. We've had a lot of trouble staying enthusiastic in the last few years, and yet we still have a near sellout attending every game. That should tell you something.

Hoyatown, for one thing, it wasn't crack with Lenny Bias, it was regular old powder cocaine. I almost feel like throwing a charge of racism at you for assuming otherwise. Besides that, it was a tremendous tragedy for everyone, and not one that should be poked fun at. How would you enjoy some French guy making jokes about 9/11? Seriously, you're representing your entire fanbase as demented, insensitive, and snotty.

The riots are shameful. I was at the first one, and I've written about it before, and the truth was that that one wasn't really a riot, but because it was labelled as such, students at UMD have made it into a ridiculous "tradition" to riot after big games. They've gotten a lot more destructive and violent over time, and for many of us alumni, if we could stop it now, we wouldn't hesitate.

In the meantime, UMD has become a top notch academic institution. Well, maybe second-to-top notch. It's just below the Michigan and UVA level for state schools, which is really saying something. I think the incoming GPA for the freshman class keeps going up every year, and last I heard specifically, a few years ago, it was in the 3.8 range. To assert otherwise is just to expose your own ignorance.

Terp fans need to hang it up. It's over. They have no good players. No good young players. No incoming recruits that are going to address their needs (every position). There is nothing to look forward to this year. The last couple of years they have underachieved. Gary's act is getting old.

Why visit a school that is not a "Team player" and thinks it is too good to play against area rivals, witness John Feinstein's comment yesterday about why we can't have a local tournament:

John Feinstein: Georgetown. Period. We've been trying to get Georgetown -- we as in the people who run the Children's Charities Foundation and the BB&T Classic -- have been trying for years to get Georgetown to participate. George Mason, George Washington and Maryland have all been willing participants and have played each other. Georgetown has completely stonewalled us. I agree with the premise, I think it would be great.

The Nation - That was perhaps the dumbest post I've read thus far as you're clearly lacking any sort of knowledge regarding the "facts" you just wrote. The Terps have acquired the services of Eric Hayes, a recruit (4 stars, btw) who plays the point, a position that clearly addresses our needs after DJ Strawberry temporarily filled the void last season. Grieves Vasquez, a LOCAL (Rockville) AND 4-star recruit, adds depth to the shooting guard position on a roster with six seniors, three of whom are starters. Next time do some research before posting mindless nonsense like this and get your facts straight.

There was no racism in mind when I made cracks about Len Bias. Was it a lousy thing to write? Yeah. But one of the things about blogs is that you can/need to say totally outrageous stuff to break through. Doesn't speak too well of me specifically or blogs in general.

Look, I am a Hoya fan, no doubt about it. Am I revelling in the fact that we're good for the first time in, like, 20 years? You bet. That's a fans perogative.

But do I hate Maryland? Not at all. I rooted for you guys in 2002 and thought it was great that you won it all, and I always root for you against Duke.

After all, if there's one thing that we can all agree on is that we HATE Duke. Am I right?

For one thing, the Hoyas do play area teams - we played Navy last year and will again this year. Moreover, Feinstein is simply bitter - and deceptive in his explanations about why it's the case - that GU doesn't play in his tournament. Finally, in case you haven't left this thread for a while, Steinberg made his decision: He (much like, say, any top-notch area recruit) is going to GEORGETOWN!

Feinstein's comments on a local tourney are worth about as much as the paper they are printed on. GU has expressed interest in playing in the BB&T, but Gary won't allow it until the Hoyas play at Comcast. So go and blame G. Williams, the reprobate.

Your "4 star" recruits are 3 stars on rivals, the most commonly used and respeted rankings. Georgetown meanwhile has the state of MD Gatorade player of the year in Dajaun, and for next season the top player in the area, and ninth overall in the nation, in Austin Freeman, from Maryland.

Yeah, Hoyatown, we can all agree that we hate Duke. Just don't start emulating their fans, okay? Or UVA fans, who chanted "Co-Caine" when DJ took the court against them (as a reference to his father, Darryl Strawberry, who has struggled with the drug).

I'm not defending the rampant classlessness of many of our own fans in the Comcast Center (and many of our students after big games), but there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed. Teasing someone about the death or addiction of a loved one is one of those lines. We loved Lenny Bias. He made an awful choice the night that he died, but that doesn't stop us from loving him even while we're a little bitter about what he did. Just play nice, okay?

I'm hoping that Gary can turn our program around and we can get back to the level at which we belong. Georgetown is doing very well for itself in terms of recruiting right now, and Maryland has made a number of missteps. If Georgetown is lucky, their players will all stay around long enough and gel well enough to bring home a Final Four appearance, or even a National Championship. It seems that they have the talent to do it. As of right now, yes, Georgetown looks like the ascendant program in the DC area, and without a doubt is a stronger team than the Terps are this year. Most well-informed Terps fans know this, but probably wouldn't admit it in public. Others are blindly partisan. I don't resent your success, I just hope that it doesn't hurt my alma mater. If both teams can succeed simultaneously, that would be wonderful.

As a GW fan, it pains me to say it, but go to Georgetown. They look to have a better team than that school on the Green line. Bring Feinstein for some extra excitement. Maybe JT III will have a John Chaney-esque freak out.